A restaurant service usually includes hundreds or thousands of participating restaurants. The restaurant service aggregates the participating restaurants menus, each of which includes a plurality (meaning more than one) of menu items. The menus and menu items are stored in a database within a restaurant service system that empowers and provides the restaurant service. The restaurant service system also stores additional information about the participating restaurants. For example, the location, cuisine type, service hours, types of services, delivery area, and various service fees of each participating restaurant are stored in the database.
The restaurant service system is usually accessible over the Internet. Diners use a computer (such as a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer or a smartphone) to access web pages provided by the restaurant service system. The web pages allow the diners to search and find desired restaurants and menu items. Diners further use the web pages to build and place food orders. The restaurant service system then sends orders to the respective serving restaurants for the orders to be processed.
The restaurants receive the orders using, for example, an Internet connection, a fax, or a telephone call. For various reasons, such as convenience and mobility, many restaurants prefer to use mobile communications devices to manage their orders. Usually, after a restaurant receives an order, it acknowledges or confirms the order first. By confirming the order, the restaurant commits itself to prepare food for the order. The order is then presented to a chef for food preparation. The order can be a pick-up order, or a delivery order. A pick-up order is prepared by the restaurant and picked up by the corresponding diner or diners. A delivery order is delivered to the diner by a delivery person (also known as delivery driver). After the order is prepared, the restaurant marks the status of the order as ready-for-pick-up or out-for-delivery. Alternatively, once the delivery order has left the restaurant for delivery, the status of the order is marked as out-for-delivery. After the order has been delivered to the diner, its status becomes delivered.
Each order can be an individual order or a group order. An individual order is a single order for food, while a group order is for a group of individuals, and includes a plurality of suborders (also referred to herein as individual orders), each of which includes one or more menu items (also referred to herein as suborder items) and serves one individual. Each suborder may also include a set (meaning one or more) of instructions, such as instructions concerning food preparation and delivery. Additionally, the group order can include a set of instructions about delivery, food preparation, utensils, etc. Group orders are important to any restaurant since they bring in much larger amounts of revenue than individual orders.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for efficient management of orders, and group orders in particular, by a restaurant. There is a further need for a mobile communication device to effectively manage group orders that would fill a long-felt need.